Matthew interrogated

In the darkest corner of the Rutgers Exegetical Archive Library (REAL), residing in the pulpit pedestal, we recently made another interesting discovery which seems to be a yet unknown fragment of the first American Biblical Detective Story. Although the exact original meaning and context of this fragment remains uncertain, and although its genre does not fit any known ancient forms, we would tentatively include it, at least for now, with other documents of Manhattan Gospel of Henry Rutgers.
(Some earlier discoveries of  Manhattan Gospel of Henry Rutgers were reported here, here, here, here and here)

“Matthew, did you really need to kill all those innocent babies in Bethlehem?”

 “But I did not do it! Herod did.” 

“Just don’t try this on me, Matthew! We both know very well that you had made up that whole story about the visiting Magi and about the escape to Egypt. It starts as sublime, inspiring fiction, but then it turns ugly - so much blood and weeping! Was it really necessary to have all those babies murdered?” 

“What else should I do? I could use only few lines of text to set a stage and to show my readers how violent was the world into which Jesus was born. Herod was a natural choice. He was a nasty character, as you certainly know, a paranoid power-possessed tyrant able to kill his own sons. Would you know any better contemporary villain?” 

“I am with you on Herod, but my issue is with your treatment of those babies. As an author of that story, you could save them in just few words, with a stroke of pen! You wrote in an angel to warn and save Jesus. Would it be that difficult to write in few more angels to stop the soldiers or at least to warn other parents in Bethlehem?” 

“Just think about it! If I had introduced even a few more angels to stop those cutthroats, it would immediately made my story into a feeble-minded fable. Would you, yourself, believe it? Have you ever seen a host of angels flying in to intercept crooks?” 

“I see your point. It would be quite unrealistic!” 

“I am telling you, my story, as legendary as it is, is unfortunately like the weekly news. The story is not the problem, our world is! There are clearly too few angels!” 

“But why? Shall we go and search for some?” 

The Flight into Egypt by Giotto di Bondone (1266 - 1337)